When I was growing up we always had cookies in the house. Some of my favorites were almond windmills, raisin biscuits and lemon coolers. Lemon coolers were really yummy lemon cookies with powdered sugar and they came in a bright green and yellow box. They were nothing like the Girl Scout Cookies called Lemon Coolers. There was something about that sweet sour combination of intense lemon and sugar that I loved.
I had some lemon cottage cheese pancakes recently and eating them brought back memories of those cookies. Even though I already have a perfectly delicious recipe for lemon ricotta pancakes, this was different. It was a more cakey style of pancake, but with some body to it from the cheese. It also had that distinctive lemon and sugar tang.
So here's where the story takes a turn. I found two versions of the recipe online and guess what? One was missing a key ingredient. Flour! And it had an unconscionable amount of clarified butter in it. The other recipe had twice as many yolks as whites. And it served 8-10 people. Either way, this was a recipe in need of a makeover. My version is inspired by the Big 3 version at the Sonoma Mission Inn. If you are in the area around breakfast time, do stop by. Meanwhile, if you miss those cookies as much as I do, or if you just enjoy a sweet and sour pucker, try these pancakes!
Lemon Cottage Cheese Pancakes
2 servings, about 7 pancakes
Ingredients
1 lemon, both grated peel and juice
1 large egg, separated
1/4 Cup powdered sugar
1/2 Cup cottage cheese (lowfat is fine)
1 Tablespoon oil (mild-flavored such as canola, rice bran or grapeseed)
1/2 Cup flour
Instructions
Combine the lemon juice, peel, egg yolk, sugar, cottage cheese and oil. Mix in the flour. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold the whites into the batter. Spoon onto a greased skillet and cook until bubbles appear, then flip gently and continue cooking until golden on the bottom.
Enjoy!
FOOD
